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Institute for Justice updates

Penny McCarthy ([link removed] )

Immunity & Accountability

Woman Traumatized by False Arrest Sues U.S. Marshals

A grandmother wrongly arrested by U.S. Marshals has joined with IJ to sue the United States government and federal agents over the harms she suffered and the violation of her constitutional rights. Penny McCarthy was working in her front yard last year when U.S. Marshals sped down her road in an unmarked van, blocked her in her driveway, and held her at gunpoint. They called her a name she had never heard. Bodycam footage of the arrest shows Penny’s confusion as the marshals yell at her to look away from them, insisting that she should know they are police. Less than two minutes after the marshals confronted her, Penny was put into the back of a van and shackled.

“The officers’ misidentifying Penny was inexcusable and violated state and federal law,” said IJ Senior Attorney Paul Avelar. “To make matters worse, even if Penny had been the fugitive they were looking for, the officers’ over-the-top display of force was uncalled for, given that the fugitive was wanted only for failing to check in with a probation officer after being released from prison 25 years ago for nonviolent crimes.”

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Robert Reeves ([link removed] )

Government Retaliation

Immunity Denied: Prosecutor Must Face Suit for Retaliatory Charges After Forfeiture Challenge

Can the government retaliate against you for joining a lawsuit against them? Not if IJ has anything to say about it. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that a Wayne County prosecutor must face Robert Reeves’ lawsuit alleging the prosecutor twice dragged Robert into baseless criminal proceedings to punish him for challenging the county’s civil forfeiture machine. Rejecting claims of absolute immunity, the court held that the prosecutor can be sued for using the criminal process as a tool of retaliation—a ruling that clears the way for Robert's First Amendment and malicious prosecution claims to proceed.

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Michael Mendenhall ([link removed] )

Immunity & Accountability

Support Pours In for Denver Man’s Suit to Revive Fourth Amendment’s Warrant Requirements

Michael Mendenhall ended up in a Denver jail charged with a felony after the police used secondhand information to get a warrant. The testimony of a dodgy witness was passed like a game of “telephone” from a police officer, to a detective, and then to a judge. For much of United States history, a witness would have been required to personally testify before a judge and swear an oath to the truthfulness of what he said before a warrant was issued. Michael and IJ are suing to revive that part of the Constitution.

Michael's case has now drawn powerful briefs in support from civil rights lawyers, professors, and two victims of high-profile wrongful raids: Anjanette Young of Chicago and Kenneth Walker, boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was killed during the Louisville police raid on their home.

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WATCH: Grandma "Kidnapped" by US Marshals (BODYCAM) ([link removed] )

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IJ Podcasts

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Short Circuit: Come and Take It

An eight-year-old wore a hat with a gun on it that also says “Come and Take It.” The student was asked to take it off ostensibly because of a recent shooting in a nearby school. Did that violate the First Amendment?

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Short Circuit: Tariff Bazookas

With the recent major tariff rulings we had to pull in a major tariff expert, Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute. Then we discuss a victory for free speech where the Attorney General of Texas tried to use a consumer fraud statute designed to remedy things like “defective air conditioners” against a journalism organization.

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